Rutgers Environmental Health Summit

The New York/New Jersey port industry includes the largest seaport on the East Coast, which has been estimated to generate over $80 billion in annual economic activity.  This “economic engine” is powered by thousands of diesel engines found in the trucks, trains, cargo handling equipment, and vessels that emit air pollution that has been linked to asthma, heart disease, cancer, and other adverse health effects.  While these emissions affect the entire region, the effects are felt disproportionately among the urban poor and people of color living in port-adjacent communities.  This conference, hosted by the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, its NIEHS Center for Environmental Exposure and Disease, and the Rutgers School of Public Health, will bring together stakeholders from port-affected communities, environmental health scientists, engineers, regulators, the port industry, and elected officials to seek solutions to resolve this long-standing environmental health issue.